Stippling roller for paints



Oct. 25, 1960 J. A. RMNEY STIRPLING ROLLER FOR PAINTS Filed Dec. 19, 1956 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O 2,957,412 srIPPLlNG ROLLER Fon PAINTS James A. Rainey, 220 Ave. F SE., Winter Haven, Fla.

Filed Dec. 19, 1956, Ser. No. 629,350

Claims. (Cl. 10137'6) This invention relates to a paint applying roller or rotative brush. Lts object is to provide an improved device of this nature so constructed that by its use large savings can be effected both with respect to the amount of paint required -to cover a given area and also with respect to the time required to do the work.

A further object is to provide a roller particularly adapted to handle enamels, or like highly sticky coatings, and to apply them in such a manner as to secure a stippled eiect, in a one coat, one operation process, the resultant coating being highly resistant to wear or Iaccumulation of dirt and so and so free of any overlapping paint areas that there will be no resultant peeling or chipping of the finishd surface coating.

The construction by virtue of which these highly advant-ageous results are achieved will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of a roller illustrating one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail view, illustrating block-like chunks of sea sponge, strung upon an attaching strand, hereinafter described.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the roller with the sponge covering partly broken away, =to show the strand winding therebeneath, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating one form of ornamental or stippled surface which may be produced by the use of my improved roller in a single operation.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the gures of the drawing.

In carrying out the invention I provide a roller comprising a cylindrical shell 5 and a covering 6 consisting of very coarse textured sea sponge.

Sea sponge has characteristics which completely dilerentiate it from artiiicial sponge like coverings, already used in rotative stippling brushes or rollers. These differences may be best appreciated by noting what Websters International Dictionary has -to about Sponges, as follows:

Sponges have great power of absorbing water, becoming soft when wet without losing their toughness During life the interstices of the skeleton are filled with cells and pierced with a system of canals and small cavities opening on the surface by numerous incurrent orifices or pores and one or many larger excurrent orilices. the food (minute organisms, particles of organic matter, etc.) is maintained by collared, agellated cells lining the cavities or canals.

To take full advantage of the natural structure of the sponge and -to increase the capacity of the sponge covering to take up the necessary amount of paint to cover a large area with one .paint application I cu-t sea sponge into block like cubes 7 approximately one inch in each direction and string these sponge cubes upon a strong strand S of any sui-table material. Wire may be used, but l prefer a stout linen thread as the material upon which the cubes are strung.

The strand 8 and the cubes are wound spirally around shell 5. This shell constitutes the supporting body for 2,957,412 Patented Oct. 25, 4196() the sponge covering. Any desired way of securing the strand to the shell may be employed. One way which I have employed is to take a number of circumferential turns 9 of the strand around the shell adjacent one end of said shell, ahead of the sponge carrying part of the strand, and then wind the sponge carrying part and sponge blocks spirally around the shell with the chunks or blocks of sponge packedv closely against each other, until the opposite end of the shell is reached. There I take a number of circumferential turns 10 of the strand, alone, around the shell, pass the strand beneath the last named circumferential turns, and finally lead the strand back to the point of beginning; engaging the returning run 11 of -the strand with the spiral runs 8a of the strand en route as at 11"'. At the beginning end of the winding the terminal end of the strand is then engaged beneath the first circumferential turns 9, and strongly drawn upon and then tied securely into engagement with said first circumferential windings or turns. This drawing upon of the strand tends to draw all of the spiral windings of sponge toward the center of the roller and into securely held and closely packed engagement with each other.

The shell 5 may be of fibre, plastic, metal, Wood or any other suitable material. A rotative mandrel, upon which the shell is carried comprises a body 12 mounted for rotation upon a shaft 13. Shaft 13 constitutes an extension of handle 14. Shell 5 may be slipped upon 'body 12, the shell 5 and said body then turning together. Suitable wear bushings 15 may be used in the rotative mounting of body 12 on shaft 13.

When in use a m-ain ground color, say olive green, is applied to almost the entire surface of the sponge upon the roller and relatively small daubs of, say, a very dark green, are applied at a few points upon the sponge surface and the roller is rolled over a wall to be decorated; said wall being of a light color, say ivory. This will in one opera-tion produce a pattern consisting of light ivory areas a, Fig. 4, representing those places Where the sponge (because of the extreme roughness characteristic of sea sponge, and having relatively deep cavities in its face and many irregular projections thereover) has made no contact at all with the wall; other areas b of olive green, comprising -a very large percentage of the area of the wall and other smaller areas c of dark green spotted over the surface. Thus there are no overlapping areas of paint. In other words, there are no areas in which there is more than one thicknesses of paint. I do not first paint -a wall and then cover it by a later application of more paint as in some stippling processes. Because of the extreme thinness of the applied tough and strong enamel coating, I use only about one fifth of the paint required by other widely used methods, to cover a given area and there is no tendency for the resultant and tough coating to peel, chip or crack off.

My improved roller and method of use yields highly ornamental effects in a very short time and at a very low cost. To get the best results I make the strung blocks of sponge of such size that the sponge covering is quite thick, preferably not less than 3A of an inch between shell 5 and the working face of the sponge covering the roller. The natural cavities of the sponge material, the canals leading to the sponge surface and the collared cells lining the walls of the cavities provide paint receiving cavities which receive, store and etiiciently dispense the paint over a large area.

The necessity for frequent replenishment of paint is avoided land speedy results are had.

The thickness of the sponge blocks, and the presence of the strand through them provides a structure strong enough to stand the strain of applying sticky enamels, as described. The pull of these sticky coatings is considerable, and a strong anchorage of sponge :to shell 5 is very essential. The spiral strand with blocks of sponge strung thereon y-ields 'this sturdy mounting to a remarkable degree.

It -is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth but that it includes its purview Whatever changes fairly fall either .the terms or the spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A stippliug roller comprising a supporting shell, a plurality of cube like blocks of sea sponge, land a strand of material upon which said blocks are strung, which strand is secured to said shell, said blocks being so dimensioned as to -yieldV a covering of sponge not less than %ths of an inch in thickness over lthe face of the shell, and means for exerting a drawing action, through said strand, upon the blocks, which action draws the blocks sidewise into packed relation to each other.

2. A stippling roller comprising a shell and a covering of sea sponge upon Ithe shell, said covering being composed of a plurality of cube like blocks of sea sponge, a stout strand upon which said blocks are strung, said strand and Iblocks being wound spirally upon and into engagement with the shell, means for securing the strand to the shell, and means for exerting a drawing action upon the strand, tending -to move the cubes toward and into packed engagement With each other.

3. A stippling roller comprising ya shell and a covering of sea sponge upon the shell, said covering being composed of a plurality of cube rlike blocks of coarse sea sponge, a stout strand upon which said blocks are strung, said strand and blocks being wound spirally upon and into engagement with the shell and means for securing the strand to the shell, said securing means including portions of Ithe strand Wound circumferentially around the shell at each end of the shell and said strand comprising a run which engages each spiral run of the strand and also engages each of the circumferentially wound portions of the strand, said run being of such length that fthe circumferentially Wound portions of the strand are drawn by said run toward each other, whereby the blocks of sponge are drawn toward .the center of the shell and into tight engagement with each other.

4. A stipplingroller ofgthe character described comprising a cylindrical shell, and a covering of natural sea sponge upon said shell, said sponge being cut into cubes, a strong strand upon which the cubes 4*are strung, the strand and cubesbeing wound spirally about the shell, with the cubes in closely contacting relation, and means for exerting a drawing action through said strand in a direction to move the cubes toward the center of the shell and to dra-w said cubes sidewise into closely compacted relation.

5. A structure asrecited in claim 4 wherein the said cubes are of such size that when compacted as described the sponge covering as a whole is not less than three quarters of an inch in thickness from -the shell to the working -face of xthe sponge covering.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 183,051 Hart Oct. 10, 1876 1,436,155 Domy Nov. 21, 1922 1,464,512 Suhr Aug. 14, 1923 1,487,039 Suhr Mar. 18, 1924 1,501,048 Hampson July 15, 1924 1,903,152 Watson et al. Mar. 28, 1933 1,914,832 Mellwig June 20, 1933 2,287,768 Eckstein June 30, 1942 

